From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Throughout the United States, co-teaching has silently become a major model for delivering instruction to special-education students in general education classes. The model pairs a general education teacher with a special education teacher.
Although co-teaching has great promise for helping special-education students, it also has many pitfalls. And the research examining its ability to improve students’ academics is in its infancy; in other words, we have little proof that it dramatically improves academics. Read more...
co-teach-co-teaching, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, IEP, inclusion, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, Special Education, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
Whether a child should receive Sensory Integration Therapy from an occupational therapist is often controversial, especially when requested at an IEP meeting as a related service. To address this issue, Susan N. Schriber Orloff, OTR/L provides perspective to understand what Sensory Integration Therapy can and cannot do.
Origins of Sensory Integration in Occupational Therapy Practice
By Susan N. Schriber Orloff, OTR/L
I get a lot of phone calls with parents asking, “Can you give my child sensory integration therapy, the teacher thinks he/she needs it?” The question never fails to take me off guard. Can I “provide it” yes, but when I say I need to evaluate the child first, parents hesitate: cost, time, “stress” on the child, and the like. Read more...
Autism, Developmental Disabilities, IEP, Learning Disabilities, learning problems, motor problems, occupational therapist, occupational therapy, Parenting, related services, Sensory integration therapy
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
On Saturday, The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio) reported:
The Upper Arlington school district failed several dyslexic students, and broke federal education laws, because it refused to test children for disabilities and help them learn to read, a state investigation found. District officials, however, deny the state’s findings.
…. According to the complaint, officials refused to acknowledge that students had dyslexia and put them in remedial reading classes that weren’t designed for those with the reading disability. Read more...
due process, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, evaluation, evaluations, IDEIA, IEP, IEPs, Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA), Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading problem, reading problems, special education eligibility, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Finally, The Perfect Reading Test!!!!!
Is it perfect?
No.
No test is perfect, and test scores, without proper interpretation and without corroborating information, can damage children. Inaccurate scores can easily lead to a reading program, a class placement, or an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that backfires.
To better understand test scores and help ensure that your child’s reading program is effective, read and save these quotes from a test manual I reviewed for the University of Nebraska’s Seventeenth Mental Measurements Yearbook. Read more...
Advocacy, Assessment, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, evaluation, evaluations, IEP, IEPs, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Parenting, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading problem, reading problems, reading test, reading test scores, struggling reader, Struggling Readers, test score, test scores, testing, tests
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Homework difficulties are often caused by work that requires struggling learners to read or write beyond their independent levels. Difficulties are also caused by work that’s too complex or abstract and by learning characteristics that interfere with starting, organizing, monitoring, and finishing work. As Bryant and her colleagues (2001) so aptly asserted:
Children with learning disabilities are at-risk for a variety of problems that are likely to interfere with doing homework. These risks include deficits in reading and math, poor communication and organizational skills, difficulty with tasks that demand voluntary, selective, and sustained attention . . . poor memory . . . and poor self-monitoring. (p. 171) Read more...
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, frustration, frustration level, homework, homework policy, IEP, IEPs resiliency, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Parenting, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading levels, Reading Materials, reading problem, reading problems, resilience, strengthening resiliency, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
More than a 100 years ago, Frederick Douglas crystallized the importance of quality schools, schools that excel at teaching academics, cultivating curiosity, and building character: “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
ASK: Does your child’s program give him a good chance of becoming “a strong child”? Read more...
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, IEP, IEPs, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Parenting, program, program quality, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading problem, reading problems, self-efficacy, self-esteem, strengthening resiliency, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
FREE CONFERENCE CALL ON
GETTING AND KEEPING SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES IN TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES: PART II
MICHAEL INZELBUCH, ESQ., SPECIAL EDUCATION AND BOARD OF EDUCATION ATTORNEY
When: Thursday May 26, 2011 @ 9 pm EST
Phone number: Call (661) 673-8600
Use Access Code: 899615# (remember the #)
Length: Approximately 40 minutes
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A Note on Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds (www.reading2008.com) Read more...
disabilities, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, IEP, Individualized Education Program, Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. IDEIA, Inzelbuch, law, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading problem, reading problems, related services, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
Free Podcast at www.reading2008.com
Getting And Keeping Special Education Services In Tough Economic Times
Staci Greenwald, Esq.
Special Education Attorney
Sussan & Greenwald
1249 South River Road
Cranbury, N.J. 08512
www.special-ed-law.com
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Chapters 7 through 13 of Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds discusses federal special education laws and shows how you can apply them to improve the odds of getting and monitoring the services your child needs.
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A Note on Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds (www.reading2008.com) Read more...
Advocacy, attorney, due process, IDEA, IEP, Parenting, related services, Special Education, special education laws
Parents often complain that teachers and IEP Teams won’t make the changes needed to help their child. Learning consultants, reading specialists, school psychologists, and other members of IEP Teams often voice similar complaints: teachers resist change; they refuse to implement “really great ideas.”
Complaining about resistance does little to improve the situation. Demanding change often backfires. Believing that “I alone know what change is needed” often smacks of arrogance. Understanding why teachers and IEP Teams resist—and looking for rational reasons—may help you, your child, his teachers, and his IEP Team. Read more...
conflict, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, IEP, IEP Team, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading problem, reading problems, resistance, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
To develop IEP goals (and, in some states and situations, objectives) that are meaningful, measurable, and manageable, requires a preliminary step that too many IEP Teams rush though: Writing a quality Present Levels section (“present levels of academic achievement and functional performance”) of the IEP. This section forms the basis and justification for all goals and objectives. In turn, the goals and objectives form the basis for all services and placements. Read more...
disabilities, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, frustration, frustration level, goals, goals and objectives, IEP, Individualized Education Program, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, objectives, progress monitoring, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading levels, Reading Materials, reading problem, reading problems, special education law, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
